How Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald is making progress by doing less

STARKVILLE — It all looked so familiar. Nick Fitzgerald took the snap. Farrod Green beat Chris Rayford and Mark McLaurin down the right hashes. Fitzgerald threw a strike to a moving Green for a 70-yard completion.

Touchdown.

With Fitzgerald celebrating after the play, it was easy to forget the realities on Saturday — but only for a moment. The reminders were too obvious. Fitzgerald was the only Mississippi State quarterback in a yellow jersey and his right ankle was bundled with tape.

Then there was also this: Fitzgerald made that throw during the 7-on-7 period that preceded Mississippi State’s scrimmage and he didn’t participate beyond that portion.

These aren’t perfect circumstances after Fitzgerald suffered a gruesome ankle injury in the Egg Bowl, but Fitzgerald is on the field and “doing everything at practice unless it’s a live rush,” he said. And that’s a major positive for him, Joe Moorhead and Mississippi State.

“I haven’t taken the chance to try to run, run, but, right now, from what I’ve been told, out of 100 percent, I’m probably at 75,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m not hurting when I run, but I’m not pushing it, either.”

Fitzgerald is on track to be 100 percent by the summer so there’s no reason to overextend himself. The temptation is there, of course. Put yourself in his shoes: after breaking out as “the guy,” you get a new boss with a new way of doing things for the first time in your career, and this just so happens to be your final season. But Fitzgerald, a senior, is too smart and too experienced to try and rush things.

It’s a fine line, and Fitzgerald is walking it this spring by absorbing what he can from the playbook while doing what his body allows on the field.

“It’s not about proving yourself and it’s more about every day being a competition,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t look at myself as, ‘Hey, I’m the No. 1 guy and it doesn’t matter what I do because I’m going to start in the fall,’ or that kind of thing. I have a really good athlete behind me in (Keytaon Thompson) and he can come and take it from me at any time. I have to grind mentally when I can’t grind physically.

“But I mean, having to prove myself? Not so much. I just let my play do my talking. The coaching staff has done a really good job of letting me know that you’re not pushed off to the side, you’re not forgotten and we’re not just going to start working with the young guy and let the old guy go. They have done a really good job of letting me know I still have a spot to compete for.”

Fitzgerald is one of the more compelling players this spring because of his health. He’ll remain one of the more interesting guys to watch in training camp because of the difference in Moorhead’s and Dan Mullen’s offenses. Fitzgerald will be working on throwing the deep ball, something MSU rarely did last year, resulting in few explosive plays in the passing game. Moorhead uses the deep ball by design; completing deep passes isn’t a roll of the dice for him.

It’s something new that Fitzgerald said he loves.

With Moorhead calling the shots, Penn State completed 59 passes of 20 yards or more last season, which led the Big Ten. To put that number in perspective, consider: Fitzgerald completed 43 passes of 15 yards or more last season. Fitzgerald was only 7 for 36 on throws 20-plus yards downfield through the first 10 weeks of last season, according to CFB Film Room. Mississippi State lacked healthy receivers and didn’t have a receiver who could stretch the field vertically last year. This year, the Bulldogs should have both.

“We didn’t take as many deep shots as I feel like we could have last season, and that’s not my choice, that’s not my say-so and that’s above my pay grade,” Fitzgerald said. “I run the play that’s called and I do it to the best of my ability.

“But I like the fact that in this offense he’s confident in the deep ball and confident that we are going to throw the ball down field instead of taking 4 yards here and 4 yards there and going down the field with 16-play drives, which is not always the most fun thing. I love throwing the ball. I think I have a strong arm and I can get it out there and we have receivers that can go get it.”

It all sounds plausible for Fitzgerald. The latest bout of adversity for the guy who was once a little-known high school prospect and later replaced Dak Prescott involves proving he can do it with success. That's what needs to happen for Mississippi State to finish somewhere high in the SEC West like it is capable of and for Fitzgerald to boost his own stock for his own future.

“Being able to show that I can have a new coach come in and a new offense and learn that and produce on the field this season is huge for trying to move up to the next step,” Fitzgerald said. “But I’m not really worried about that. I’m worried about having a great time in my senior season, really enjoying it and getting some big-time wins.”